The Shared Selection (SYOC) (One more spot!)
by Kypress
Summary: This year's Selection comes with double the prize. It's going to be a shared Selection with Prince Colin of Illea and Prince Tristan of France. Besides that, the southern rebels have been growing more violent and there is a new rebel group arising in the shadows. With all the scheming and chaos going on, disaster is bound to happen. Set a century after Maxon and America. SYOC open
1. Prologue

**Hello, guys! This is my second remake now of a Selection SYOC. This SYOC will probably be centered around 100 years after America and Prince Maxon. The rebels are still existing in this story. The Southern rebels are getting more and more violent each year. So violent that Illea almost decided to put aside the Selection, however it's been decided that it will still go on. The kingdom's defenses have substantially gotten higher. What's special about this Selection in particular is that it will have a shared Selection with France, so instead of competing for only one prince, the girls will be competing for the Prince of Illea as well as the Prince of France. So of course there will be two winners in this Selection. **

~Rules~

_1) I only accept via PM. I won't read the ones submitted through review._

_2) No Mary-Sue's please._

_3) I don't want any copies of America. Keep your characters original!_

_4) Please, please don't have your character be a kid of one of the original characters in the book._

_5) I want a diversity of castes and personalities. I might make you change it if there's too many of one._

_6) This is not first come first serve. If I don't choose your character, no hard feelings. _

_7) Have fun! Hope you enjoy reading._

~ Now, without further ado, here is a short prologue of the story. ~

* * *

I stood in my father's office, watching as he sat at his office desk and stared at the files that contained recent attacks of the rebels, plus some more letters from the King and court of France which had me wondering what they were for. He pursed his lips in concentration as he looked over each of the papers, running a hand through his hair and giving out a stressed sigh. He looked over at my mother, the Queen, along with my sister Brielle and I. He had called us all into his office for a family meeting and to discuss something about the recent news with France.

"As you all know I'm leaving to New Asia in about a week for business so I won't be able to be here for half of the Selection," My father finally spoke, glancing at me in particular. "But there is some more news I have to discuss."

"Well what is it then?" My mother impatiently questioned.

"I just received word from France and King Stephen would like his son to have a shared selection with Colin since they're both the same age and figured it would be more convenient for both of them to have it." King Valentin explained.

"What." I simply uttered, expressing the look of irritation on my face.

A shared selection.? With someone else? Of all people the Daupin of France whom I had already met when I was younger. He definitely wasn't one you wanted to get cross with. From the stories I've heard about his terrible past, he was completely brutal and cold now.

"So that means double the girls instead of thirty five? God, why don't you just kill us all," Brielle impassively muttered, sharing the same annoyed enthusiasm as my mother and I. Something we probably inherited from the family.

"So while your away to New Asia I'm going to have to play host to the entire French court and not to mention for that dreaded woman, Bedelia?" My mother fumed, referring to the French Queen as that dreaded woman.

"It won't be for long, you know this would be France's first selection, since this has always been a custom for Illea. King Stephen merely suggested it and I agreed that it was a good idea as well for our sons to have a shared Selection. It would be something new. There would still be the regular thirty five girls, we decided not to double it because God knows what condition the palace would be in if we housed seventy Illean girls plus some of the family of the French court." My father droned on, but I realized he had a point at the end.

Seventy girls in the house would be a nightmare. I could barely handle one girl with all my past exes. Thirty five was more than enough for me.

"So while Colin has his selection we have to play host to all his future wives plus the batshit crazies from the French court? No thanks. I'll be in my room drowning myself." Brielle rolled her eyes and slowly made her way towards the door.

"Oh Brielle, enough with the dramatics." My father raised his fingers and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I don't much mind for the Daupin of France though, he's hot." Brielle admitted.

"That's the most positive thing I heard you say all day, Brielle." I raised an eyebrow. She gave me a sarcastic smile in response before exiting the office and heading back into the hallway.

While my father continued to explain the detail about the selection, I groaned and reached for a nearby glass of wine that was sitting on top of a drink tray. The butler stood beside the tray and immediately took the glass of wine and gave it to me, seeing as it was slightly far from my reach. I muttered a small thanks in return and took a sip from the glass.

My mother glanced over at the glass of wine in my hands and gave my wrist a light slap. "Why are you drinking? You shouldn't be drinking. I should be the one drinking," She gave me a stern stressed look and reached over for the tray as well, taking one glass before the butler could hand it to her.

"Damn it all. I'll just have to watch as the Illean court goes to hell these next few months," She brushed the bottom of her dress aside before angrily stepping out of the office as well.

"Well, that wasn't quite the reaction I was expecting but very well. Everything will work out according to plan these next few months," My father filed some papers on the desk neatly.

I set aside my glass of wine and sat down on the couch with my arm over the side. "So you've been having some trouble with rebels lately father.?" I questioned.

He brushed his fingers across the side of the papers before setting them back down. "Somewhat. I've strengthened the defenses of the palace guard quite a bit. I've been meaning to ask you how your team of guards you've assigned to take care some of the southern rebels have been doing so far."

"They've been successful." I simply stated. "They actually have a mission tonight to find those rebels who killed that family from caste two."

"Ah yes, very troubling to hear about their deaths." My father solemnly replied. "How many rebels have they killed so far?"

"I would say roughly about thirty." I truthfully replied.

"Good. All those rebel scum need to be eliminated. It's good that we have some of the northern rebels on our side guarding the palace but your team has been proved most useful. I don't know how you managed to find and hire them but I'm glad you did, son." My father stood up from his desk and gave me a small pat on the shoulder.

As he exited out of the office I glanced over at my glass of wine and casually picked it up by the bottom, spinning the wine around in the glass and watching as it spun around in a circle.

The last thing I needed was for the southern rebels to begin with their scheming and get involved with the Selection.

Who else was going to try and stop them from doing so otherwise.?

* * *

**...9 hours later...**

A southern rebel sat kneeled down on the ground with his hands tied behind his back. Several other rebels lay dead beside him, the ones who were part of his small group.

He kept his gaze on the dark concrete floor, barely being able to see anything because of the darkness of the night. He tried to break free from the rope tied around his wrists but it was no use as the rope was tied around too tight, causing a painful brush burn on his wrists. He sent a glare up at his capturers who were currently standing over him and deciding what to do with him. They were also responsible for killing the other rebels.

All of them were wearing hoodies over their heads and masks on their faces to protect their identities.

The one in the middle stood leaning against a wall, twirling his gun around in his hand.

"Lift his head up," He merely ordered.

The other members of his team came towards the rebel and grabbed him by the hair to roughly lift his head up. His glare was met with the robed one in the middle, who he assumed was the leader of the group.

"Were you and your group the ones responsible for killing that family from caste two that were associated with the royals.?" The robed leader carefully questioned.

"Yes, the royals and anyone associated with them deserve to die." The rebel scornfully spat on the floor near the other man's feet.

The robed leader stood unfazed, almost seeming bored. Once the rebel spat on the floor, he slightly pushed himself away from the wall to stand taller.

"So you have no remorse for what you did then.? Nothing at all?"

The rebel gave out a menacing smirk. "Nope, none at all."

"Very well..." The robed leader glanced over at his two members that were currently holding the rebel's head up.

"Shoot him."

He stepped away from the wall and was just about to walk away from the area until the rebel watched him go and made a quick shout of protest. "Wait, before you kill me at least show your damn face.!"

The robed leader stopped in his tracks, before slowly turning back to stare at the rebel. He stood still for a few moments until finally he slowly brought his hand up to his face and let his head hang back for the hoodie to fall off. Once he brushed his mask back and brought his face back down, the rebel gave a short gasp of shock.

"Y-your the Prince of Illea..!" The rebel exclaimed.

"It's your highness, mind you." Colin clicked his tongue, before one of the other members of his group pulled out his pistol and pulled the trigger against the rebel's head despite his screams and curses, ending the man's life in a second.

Once the man crumpled onto the floor, the others moved away from him.

Colin turned away, continuing to head back into the alleys. His robe gracefully fell behind him and brushed along the floor with each step he took back into the shadows. The others followed after him as well moments after they had stepped away from the dead rebel.

The area was yet again empty and this time filled with several bodies of dead rebels in a pool of blood.

* * *

**_Leave comments and reviews please, love getting those. The form is down below and is also in my profile. Also, instead of the usual 35 girls, I will only be picking 12. Descriptions and pics of the families are also in my profile too. Prince Tristan and his family will be introduced in the next chapter. ~~_**

Full name:

Nickname (optional):

Age:

Caste:

Province:

Occupation:

Appearance:

Celebrity look-alike:

Personality:

Pre-Selection clothes:

Before/After makeover:

Family (ages, personality, job, and describe their relationship):

History:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Reason for entering:

What do the Princes first think of your character?:

What do the Princes think of her later on?:

Thoughts on Colin:

Thoughts on Tristan:

Which Prince do they prefer? (You can choose both):

Thoughts on King:

Thoughts on Queen Zaria and Queen Bedelia:

Thoughts on Brielle:

Thoughts on the kids (Julian, Rory, Abril, and Adora):

Romantic history:

How they treat the other contestants:

How they treat their maids:

Describe their three maids:

Strategy to win:

Ideal first date:

Other:


	2. Chapter 1

_**Thanks for the submissions guys! They're all great. I won't update the list of girls accepted yet because I am still accepting more forms so please continue to submit! Here's the next chapter. Tristan's POV has some French in it so I will be providing the translations down below (not a French expert just google translate). This will continue on in later chapters as Tristan and his family's native language is French.**_

_**~I do not own the Selection~**_

_**Be sure to leave me some reviews! **_

* * *

_Tristan's POV_

I sat in the limo next to one of my good friends, Leon. He was the son of some powerful rich nobles, which was another reason I was able to bring him with me to Illea. Thank god I could at least bring one person I knew. I would be damned if I had to stand around like a loner and make acquaintances with Prince Colin's friends.

Leon and I stared out the window as our limo traveled out of the airport and towards the castle of Illea in the province of Angeles. Still to this day I could not get over some of the ridiculous names the provinces of Illea had.

"Assez, the scenery isn't it?" Leon casually spoke. "I'm glad they have at least once decent thing here."

"Je pense toujours que nos boulangeries sont mieux pour les décors," I sarcastically teased in French, which earned an immediate chuckle from Leon. I snickered along with him as we tried to keep our voices hushed.

However, once my mother heard my snide comment and our muffled chuckles, she looked over and gave me a stern glare to get me to quiet down. "Je ne veux pas vous deux plaisanter, understand Tristan?" She lightly scolded.

"Yes, your highness." Leon stopped laughing and dipped his head in apology.

"I understand, mother." I gave her a small smile and leaned against the car seat.

"Mauvais, Tristan! Mauvais!" My two younger twin sisters left their seats and jumped over to me.

Adora held onto my arm as Abril sat on my lap and stared out the window. They were both as enamored with the scenery as everyone else was. I lightly pinched both of their cheeks, which caused a giggle from Adora and a small pout from Abril.

"Do you see all the pretty flowers, grand frère?" Adora questioned with a sweet grin.

"Yes, I see." I nonchalantly replied, just keeping conversation with them in order to entertain the two for the time being. As we were getting closer to the castle we could see fields of brightly colored flowers gently flailing against the wind and standing out in the grass.

"Illea is much different from France!" Abril exclaimed.

"Is that a good thing, Abril?" Leon gave her a friendly smile.

"Hm, I think yes. But I still miss all my friends back in France!" She sighed.

"Pouvez-vous jouer avec nous?" Adora asked me, her small hands tugging on the sleeve of my shirt.

"Oui! Se il vous plaît! Quand nous arrivons au château?" Abril pleaded with her puppy dog eyes.

I merely glanced down at them and ran my fingers through my dark hair with a sigh. I didn't know if I would be able to play with them much during our stay since I would have to be focused on the Selection the entire time. Having to pay attention to thirty five girls plus my ten year old twin sisters would be hectic enough.

My mother scoffed with a smile. "Don't be silly, ma chérie. Your brother won't have any time for that."

My little sisters' smiles dropped, and they glanced down at the floor with crossed arms. They furrowed their eyebrows with disappointment. I ruffled their hair to try and cheer them up again.

As we finally arrived at the palace, our limo came to a stop at the front, along with the other cars ahead and following behind us that belonged to the Royal French guards. Usually everywhere we went they had to go as well.

When the limo doors opened and the cameras started flashing along with waving flags announcing we were here, my mother turned to me before leaving through the door.

"Remember, keep your smiles and charms on at all times."

* * *

French Translations (Going in order by each French word said) 

**1) Pretty**

**2) I still think our bakeries are better for scenery.**

**3) I don't want you two joking around.**

**4) Bad**

**5) Big brother**

**6) Can you play with us?**

**7) Yes! Please! When we get to the castle?**

**8) My darling**

* * *

_Colin's POV _

I stood in the center of the main hall after we immediately heard word that the French court had arrived. Everyone of the maids and butlers scurried across rooms to try and make sure everything looked presentable. My mother took one more sip of her champagne glass before setting it down and calmly making her way towards us.

She's been stressed for days over this day, but when it finally came she always managed to stay calm and collected as a Queen should be.

"Alright, everyone quit panicking. It's only the French court, not the supreme leader of the rebels for god's sake. Make sure everything is in place when they come inside, first impressions are crucial after all we are representing the Illean palace." She sarcastically stated and stopped in front of me so she could quickly fix my tie and make sure it looked neat. Afterwards she went to Brielle and brushed her hair forward so that it would fall next to her face.

My younger brothers Julian and Rory, were still giggling and running around the room, chasing each other with their wooden swords. As they passed by my mother, she pulled them by to stand next to Brielle and I.

"That's enough playing, darlings. Right now you have to stand next to your brother and sister to greet the French royal family," My mother explained, fixing their hair and tie as well.

"Okay, mom.." Julian sighed, obviously wanting to go back to playing.

"Then can we go play?" Rory hopefully added.

My mother gave his head a small pat. "Of course you can, sweetheart." She replied and stood beside us to wait for the French court to arrive in the room.

While we patiently waited, Brielle gave an annoyed roll of her eyes. "How long do we have to stand here waiting?" She muttered.

"Any minute now," I drawled. "God knows how long it'll take for the entire French court to get out from their one limo."

Brielle gave a small laugh, until my mother cleared her throat and glanced at the two of us. We both stood quiet but still had sly smiles on our faces.

Once the trumpets sounded, signaling that they were coming, we immediately stood straighter and watched as the doors to the main hall gradually opened up wide. Both of the side doors opened, revealing the Queen of France Bedelia first.

She walked forwards with two of the French guards following behind her. There was obvious tension between her and my mother as she walked closer to her, but as soon as she stood in front of her and their gazes met, Queen Bedelia gave out a warm smile.

"Hello, Zaria. It's been a while." She greeted.

"Bedelia, it's a pleasure to see you again." My mother exchanged the smile, which ended in the two hugging each other in a small but proper embrace.

After the hug, Queen Bedelia glanced over at me. "Colin, why, you've gotten so big since the last time I saw you. Time certainly does fly. Your becoming quite the handsome man." She gave me a small hug as well.

I returned the hug before dipping my head in respect. "Thank you, your highness."

Bedelia moved over to greet Brielle, along with my two younger brothers as more of the French court started to move inside the room. Once more people came inside Prince Tristan finally made his appearance.

My mother moved aside from us as he came forwards. Once he came to a stop she gave him a small smile. "Tristan, what a pleasure to see you as well. It's been years."

Prince Tristan properly bowed and gave her a small kiss on her hand. "Your highness, thank you for allowing my family to stay in your humble home." He charmingly spoke.

"My, what a gentleman. I'm impressed." She grinned.

Once he returned a small arrogant smirk, I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes and go slam my head against the nearest wall.

As soon as he made his way over to greet me, the tension was inevitable between the two of us. Despite us not seeing each for years, it seemed we already knew each other so well. Tristan kept his charming smile on as he shook my hand, but the obvious glint in his eyes were ice cold.

"Hello, Colin. It's nice to see you again. I hope your looking forward for the Selection as much as I am," He greeted, and I could almost hear some sarcasm in the last sentence.

"Hello, Tristan." I returned his hand shake. "Maybe the two of us can get to know each other better during all of this," I replied with equal sarcasm.

"Yes, perhaps we can." He smirked.

Once we were done briefly greeting each other, he moved along to greet the others.

All I could think of that moment was the Selection is definitely going to hell, maybe before it could even start.

* * *

Hours later, I sat at the bar of the main hall (which now seemed to be my favorite place) and began drinking glass after glass of wine.

Two of my best friends, Kieran and Barret, sat in the bar stools next to mine drinking glasses of wine as well. Kieran worked as a palace guard, his family originally was from caste three. Barret on the other hand, was the son of nobles.

The two of them also happened to be on my team to get rid of the rebels, but that remained a secret.

As we sat drinking wine, the main hall was lively with commotion and the sound of laughter. My mother sat across from Queen Bedelia on a couch in a faraway corner, chatting. My sister Brielle was talking with one of her friends and my two younger brothers were running and playing around with the twin girls, Abril and Adora.

Tristan stood somewhere across the room with his friend Leon, the two of them talking in French and laughing.

"So what do you think of the upcoming Selection?" Barret smirked at me.

I sighed and picked up my glass of wine. "It's just something inevitable in my life, I suppose."

Kieran chuckled. "How depressing." He teased.

"Yeah, I would totally be depressed if I had thirty five girls swooning all over me," Barret sarcastically scoffed.

"It's not that, it's everything else that's revolving around this Selection.." I explained.

"Hey, we're taking care of the rebels." Kieran assured me in a hushed tone.

"Slowly, but we are. Maybe just need to increase our group a little bit." Barret suggested.

"We're already risking our lives, even with the skills we have. The rebels are definitely not ones to be taken lightly," Kieran raised an eyebrow.

"Well why not, we've been taking them out pretty steady so far." Barret took another sip of his wine.

"Yeah, so far." I reminded him, agreeing with Kieran that he had a point. If anyone else found out what we were doing they would throw a fit. Not to mention, my mother. She nearly threw one once she found out I was practicing shooting guns and sparring when I was twelve with my father and the other guards. I kept on practicing after that in order to improve my skills. Eventually, I got to the point where I'm in now. Of course I'm still not a perfect fighter, I come home with a few cuts every so often that I manage to keep hidden from the others.

"Well let's not worry about that right now, we don't have another mission until days anyways." Kieran raised his glass to perform a cheers. "In the meantime let's have some peace and drink to calm our nerves, right Colin?"

"Drinking is another one of our specialties," I smirked, raising my glass as well.

"Amen to that." Barret laughed.

The three of us all did cheers and touched our glasses together before taking another sip.


	3. Chapter 2

**_Another update! This time I introduced three of the girls I have selected. Here are the list of girls I have chosen so far:_**

**_1) Olivia Rose Jacobs (18, Caste 5)_**

**_2) (on hold)_**

**_3) Lexus Cassandra Bell (18, Caste 6)_**

**_4) Elizabeth Alexis Williams (16, Caste 3)_**

**_5) Emmaline Thisby "Emme" O'Malley (17, Caste 3)_**

**_6) Savannah Kate Wilson (16, Caste 3) _**

**_7) Clarissa Anastasia Bell (17, Caste 7) _**

**_8) Aine Elliot Keeper (20, Caste 3)_**

**_9) Meenalochani Azhagusundaram (18, Caste 2)_**

**_10) Mavis Jacqueline Sinclair (19, Caste 6)_**

**_11) Elizabeth Florence Reynolds (17, Caste 3)_**

**_12) Open _**

**_As you see I have one more spot open so submit please! Preferably a mean character, we need more mean girls. And no more Caste Threes. Overall, I think the list has a variety of ages and castes, so that's good. _**

**_Hope you enjoy the chapter~_**

* * *

**Olivia Rose Jacobs**

"Liv! Liv!" My seven year old younger brother came running inside the house holding a letter. I was sitting down on one of our lumpy couches. My family and I were caste fives, so of course our furniture wasn't exactly extravagant but it certainly was homey.

I turned to the sound of little feet pattering against the floor boards. My gaze was met with the adorable face of Mikey and I instantly smiled.

"Hi, bud. What do you got there?" I questioned, noticing the letter he was waving in his hand.

"It's a letter for you, sis! It's all fancy, it says from the pa-place..." He turned the letter over trying to read it. "Palace of..Illea," He finished with a smile and handed me the letter.

My mother and father who were cooking and washing dishes in the kitchen immediately stopped what they were doing once they heard Mikey say the letter was from the palace. My mother came over to sit beside me on the couch, carefully examining the letter for herself.

"It's for the Selection," She raised an eyebrow and smiled at the both of us, exchanging a smile with an eager Mikey.

"A letter from the palace? Well open it up, pumpkin." My dad grinned at me before coming to sit beside us, sharing equal excitement.

I hesitantly broke the seal that kept the letter shut, and I could nearly feel everybody's eyes on the letter. Once I brushed my fingers along the tips of the front of the letter in order to open it, I changed my mind and quickly tossed it over to my father so he could read it. "I think you should read it out loud, dad." I hopefully urged, deciding I would rather want someone to read it to me than reading it myself.

"Alright, sweetheart." He pulled the letter out much faster than I could have, and began reading after clearing his throat.

"It has been confirmed that a single woman between the ages of sixteen and twenty currently resides in your household. We would like to make you aware of an upcoming event for the great nation of Illea, and we offer you a surprise." My father paused to glance at the rest of us.

A surprise? What could that be?

All of us leaned in for him to continue and hear more.

"Not only will our beloved Prince Colin Windsor of Illea will be having a Selection, but also our very special guest the Daupin of France, Tristan Delacroix will be sharing a selection with our prince as well. With double the princes, that comes double the chances of getting to marry a prince and become an adored Princess of Illea or even France. If your eligible daughter, sister, or niece in interested please fill out the form attached and return it to your local Province Services Office in a chance you'll get to meet the Princes. We wish you the best of luck."

"Two princes instead of one!?" I exclaimed, not knowing if I should be glad or not. Really I didn't know how to feel about any of this, or if I should even enter. But I knew my family needed the money so it would be my best interest to.

"Well that does give you a higher chance of winning, perhaps?" My mother hopefully suggested. "It's really your choice, dear. We won't force you into it."

"Your mother's right, it's your decision. Whichever you choose we will be right behind supporting you, pumpkin." My father reassured me.

I took the form out that was attached to the letter and carefully read it. The more I thought about it, the more I thought it wouldn't hurt to try. I mean yeah, I would completely be out of my comfort zone. The only relationship I had was some jerk who used me to make some rich girl jealous so I wasn't exactly experienced when it came to guys. The plus side if I did get in, I could earn some money for my family and share my ideas with the Royal family, that is if I had enough courage to speak them.

I shut my eyes tight and have out a huge inhale of breath.

"Alright, hand me a pen."

* * *

**Savannah Kate Wilson **

I sat behind the counter of our family store "The Cupcake Corner", cleaning up after closing time. Our specialty was making cupcakes if the name didn't give enough of a hint. We usually didn't close too late because most of our cupcakes would run out during the day because of the steady business we received.

My two younger sisters Delilah who is ten, and Lizeth (we call her Lizy) who is thirteen, were helping me clean up the store beside me. I called them my little helpers. We always got stuff done whenever we worked together.

My youngest seven year old sister Lainey came out of the back room and went skipping towards the counter, setting her eyes on a very delicious looking pink cupcake that was sitting on the table. Some of our cupcakes get leftover.

Once I saw her eyeing that cupcake like it was a piece of candy, I quickly moved it out of her reach once she moved to grab it. "No Lainey, no eating the cupcakes." I wagged my finger at her and puffed my cheeks out.

She gave out a childish whine and stomped on the floor. "But Sunny! That's not fair! I wanted that cupcake! I wanna eat all of the cupcakes!" She protested.

"You only wanted it because it's pink," I retorted.

"Soo! That's a good reason!" She threw her small hands up in the air dramatically and stared keenly on the cupcake. "I want that cupcake." She whispered.

Before I even had time to reply, we the door open and the bell ring jingle to signal there was a customer coming in. Liz was about to say we were closed, but as soon as our older sister Bella came inside carrying a few letters and an eager smile on her face, we were immediately intrigued.

"Hi sissy!" Lainey and Delilah chimed together once they saw Bella come inside.

"Hello my dear sisters. Ah, I have so much news to tell you, I swear." She scurried over to the counter and dumped some letters in front of me, setting aside the junk mail and sliding the fancy letter from the palace in front of me so I could see. "Mom like called me two times to check mail, and she gave me a whole bunch of texts to tell me the letter came in," Bella grinned, showing me her phone to read all of mom's texts. Underneath her contacts our mother's name was Birth Giver so I automatically knew where to search.

"So this is the form to enter the Selection?" I beamed, grinning from ear to ear. Lainey and Delilah ran over to see the letter too. I don't know who was more excited. Lizy also curiously peered over my shoulder to see.

"Ugh, I'll tell you if I wasn't engaged to my Kevin already, I would enter that competition in a heartbeat." Bella giggled, waving her hand forwards. "I even heard there was going to be two princes instead of one,"

I took my sisters hands and we all started jumping in glee, all squealing and screaming in excitement together. I swear people from blocks away could probably hear us. "This is so exciting! Maybe I can meet Prince Colin! I had a crush on that guy like since forever! Ahh! Yay! Yay!" I exclaimed as I danced around in a circle along with my sisters. Not only that, but if I got in I could get more money so my family could afford to help Delilah's epilepsy. That was the most important thing. It's been hard on all of us because of that.

"Ew boys are gross!" Delilah protested with a stick of her tongue. All of us giggled and laughed at her comment.

"Yay! Sunny! Yay!" Lainey gave out a muffled shout, indicating she's been eating something.

At that, we all turned to stare at her and there was that pink cupcake I had taken away from her earlier sitting beside her, now half eaten.

"Lainey!" We all scolded in unison.

"Sowwy," She giggled with a mouth full of cupcake.

* * *

**Elizabeth Alexis Williams **

I sat on my bed inside my room scribbling a few facts about me on the Selection form which I had received in the mail a couple hours ago. I wasn't able to start working on it earlier because of my mother nagging at me. I scanned through the paper and stopped where it said skills. I had already written down intellect, so I bit the end of my pen and absent-mindedly gazed off towards the ceiling to think of what else I could write. Maybe I could put down flirting, haha.

As I started to write some more things down, the door to my room opened and in came my mother of course. She was probably the most strictest mother in the world, which was why I had such a restrained life before. Partially the reason why I was filling this form out in hopes of getting in was so that I could have a little freedom away from my mom.

"I hope your still not wasting time with that form, you need to be focusing on your studies." She gave me a stern look.

"It's called privacy, mother. Couldn't you have had at least the decency to knock first before entering my room?" I protested, not liking how she would always barge into my room. Another lack of freedom I didn't have.

"This is my house, Elizabeth. I can do whatever I want. Now I want you to stop with that silly letter and finish your work." She folded her arms.

"It's not silly, mother. It's a chance for young girls such as myself to have a bit of hope that they can become a princess and marry the prince," I dreamily sighed, resting my chin on my hand.

"No it's not! Do you know how many girls enter that thing? And how many actually get in? Thirty five out of millions, Elizabeth. Even if there is the slightest chance of you getting in, there are still thirty four other girls you need to compete with and the Prince can choose anyone. That sort of stuff right there is a scam just to get these poor young girls hopes up so they can crush them in an instant before they even had a chance," My mother ranted. "It's hopeless. What you really should be focusing on is your studies so you can really have a chance at being successful. That's real life."

I tossed the pen down on my bed and angrily sat up. "Why don't you ever believe in me!? You always seem to think that I'm set up for failure! Maybe I want to do this, maybe I want to try. It doesn't hurt to try, does it? Just let me make my own mistakes so I can grow and learn from them!" I argued.

My mother gave out a slow stressed sigh. "Elizabeth, why do you even want to enter?" She pinched the bridge of her nose and kept her eyes shut.

"Well, I like boys. Especially princes." I giggled, my demeanor instantly changing.

"That's why you want to enter, really?" My younger twelve year old sister Eleanor peeked her head inside the room with her eyebrow raised. "That's not a good enough reason."

I rolled my eyes. I loved my sister dearly, but sometimes she could be so annoying with her witty and snarky remarks. Frankly, I was tired of them.

"You two wouldn't understand, it's my life, anyways." I shook my head.

As soon as I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, I eagerly lifted up my head because I knew that must be my father. Him and I always got along the best. And I was sure he would take my side on this one. He always managed to rescue me from my mom and sister at the right time.

"What's going on?" He curiously asked once he got to the top of the stairs.

"Maxwell, please tell Elizabeth to stop with that Selection form. She has other things to worry about," My mother scoffed.

My father glanced over at me and then back at my mother. "It's just a form I don't see what's the harm of it, Ameera." He shrugged. "Just let her have some fun."

"Fine, Elizabeth. Go ahead and fill it out and send it in. Get your hopes up, why don't you." My mother angrily left the room, obviously fed up with the argument already. My father left following after her, while Eleanor quietly went back to her room.

After they all left, I closed my door shut and plopped back down on my bed hugging one of my pillows, feeling frustrated. While I groaned into my pillow I glanced back at the partially filled out form still sitting on the center of my bed.

Reaching for the pen, I began to write and continue to fill out the form.

I'll show them. Most of all, I'll show my mother.

That I can get in the Selection and accomplish what I want.


	4. Chapter 3

_**Hey guys, sorry this update took a while. I had it up ready yesterday, but for some reason I wasn't able to submit any documents so I had to use an existing one instead. On the plus side, this chapter is fairly long so hope you guys enjoy. I promise I'll add more POV's of the girls in the next chapter as I added one at the end. Mavis Sinclair will be introduced in this chapter, submitted by Perksofbeingminho. I enjoyed writing her in this chapter, haha. Be sure to review everyone :)**_

* * *

**Third Person POV**

Colin sat out in the courtyard on one of the tables along with Kieran and Barret. They were taking a brief break after practicing with their sword fighting and close combat. There was a back secret part of the courtyard where they always went to train, since hardly any of the other royals knew where it was. Besides the younger kids. Colin wouldn't be surprised if they knew where this was since they practically explored every nook and cranny in the palace. That's why he often made sure the door was kept locked.

"I set up cans on top of one of the pedestals so we can fire a few rounds if we want," Kieran explained, pointing towards the empty cans of sodas and beers he probably got from the recycling bins. They were all set up neatly in a small pyramid on top of the pedestal.

"Be careful not to shoot the pedestal," Barret laughed.

"That's the whole point. If one of us shoots the pedestal then we're terrible aimers," Colin bluntly replied with a smirk.

"If one of us does accidentally shoot it we can just push and hide it into the grass hedge, then nobody will ever know." Kieran reassured with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yeah until the grass cutter comes along." Barret pointed out.

"Why would the grass cutter come over here? This place is practically hidden."

Colin leaned back against the chair. Even the hedge in here seemed like it could use a trim with all the leaves and branches sticking out all over the place.

"Well who knows maybe the grass cutter could be a rebel spy?" Barret deadpanned with a shrug.

"Oh yeah, he's the mastermind of them all. He's their leader." Kieran sarcastically added.

'_As much of an amusing accusation it was, anyone in reality could be a spy. There was no way in hell we could tell._' Colin thought.

"That's not exactly an impossible thought though," He raised his eyebrow.

The other two of them agreed with Colin as they paused for a second to stand there, deep in thought. Of course Barret soon interrupted their train of thought. Nothing could ever be too serious with him.

"Or maybe the rebel could be disguised as a hedge," He snapped his fingers.

Kieran immediately did a face palm and carefully massaged the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Colin merely stared at Barret with a less than amused expression on his face. After they all silently stared at each other, they gradually started to chuckle at each other.

While they laughing at each others silly accusations, they failed to hear somebody's footsteps approaching the hidden area where they were standing at. Once Colin heard a small snap of a branch, indicating that someone had stepped on it, he immediately turned his head around towards the direction of the noise. Kieran followed seconds before him, hearing the noise as well. Barret had to stop chuckling for a few moments before turning to look as well, slowly getting back into composure.

They were expecting anyone really, another one of the guards, perhaps one of the queens or one of the other French royals. When the person finally appeared, or rather persons, they were the last ones the three of them were expecting to see.

Tristan stood there with his arms crossed, glancing around with a raised eyebrow, as if he was just casually looking around. Leon stood by his side with a smug smirk on his face as usual.

"Oh, it's you two." Barret spoke out, rather surprised. But his voice had a hint of annoyance.

"What's wrong? You three don't look too happy to see us," Tristan gave out an arrogant smirk. Even his accent, no matter how small it was, irked Colin to no end.

"What are you doing here?" He merely replied, trying to remain impassive.

"Oh Leon and I were just exploring the castle. I do assume the castle is free for us to roam in, right?" Tristan exchanged glances with Leon, the two of them smirking. "Or do you snobbish Illean royals have some areas where you own and nobody else may enter?" Leon scoffed.

"Who are you calling snobbish, you hypocrites?" Barret sneered at Leon, and the two of them glared daggers at each other.

"Alright, that's enough. Let's not fight," Kieran sighed, having to play the peacemaker like usual.

"I agree, let's not start another one of those arguments on whose kingdom is better than whose. I already hear enough of that from our mothers," Tristan rolled his eyes in irritation. For once, Colin had to agree with him.

"I see you three have some practicing going on," Tristan peered over at the cans on the pedestal. "I'll admit, we weren't really exploring around. I've just been rather intrigued with what's been going on here. Your all up to something."

Colin remained calmly standing, however Tristan's statement had him clearing his throat. 'How the hell did he find out there was something going on..?' He thought.

"I don't know what your talking about. We're just here practicing our sword skills and aim skills. It's just one of our activities to pass time," Colin casually responded.

Kieran and Barret both nodded at each other, pretending to look confused as well. However, Tristan was definitely not buying it.

"Don't play stupid with me, Illea. I know you've been sneaking off and around. You think your sly at it, but really you aren't. I see you leave the castle at night from my window," Tristan narrowed his eyes.

"Well, it flatters me that you think of me as that important to watch me every night from your window." Colin sarcastically muttered, earning a couple snickers from Kieran and Barret. "But the only thing I'm sneaking out for is to go drinking at a bar or party. So now you know I'm not a good proper Prince that everyone makes me out to be, congratulations. You can even tell my mother that I've been sneaking out, so you can raise your self-esteem."

"I have enough esteem about myself, it's humorous you would even compare ourselves together." Tristan lightly chuckled, although Colin could see his eyes were glaring at him as if he wanted to strangle him right then and there. He was honestly surprised he didn't.

"So you leave to a bar, hmm? That's funny, because ordinarily people wouldn't bring guns to a bar or a party," He continued to add, and this time he had Colin caught in a trap.

'_I kept those guns so hidden... How would he have noticed?_'

Colin stood frozen, and Kieran and Barret stared at Tristan with an incredulous expression.

"Fuck," They all merely muttered in unison.

Tristan gave Colin a smug smile that he oh so wanted to wipe off his face right about now. "Exactly. So now tell me what you've really been doing. Hunting down rebels, perhaps?" He questioned, but Colin knew he already knew the answer to that.

Colin sighed and ran his hand through his blonde hair. "What do you want, Tristan?" He cursed.

Tristan simply laughed in response, his eyes glinting with amusement. Colin could see he was certainly enjoying this. "I don't want anything from you, Illea." He spoke with a smirk. "What I want is to join in your little rebel killing group. Leon too."

Leon shared his menacing smirk, and crossed his arms as well.

Kieran exchanged glances with Colin, as if to silently ask him what he was going to do about this situation. But really, he had no idea. Barret just shook his head at him, already expressing his answer.

"Don't be stupid, France. This isn't a game. You can't just go out there with no fighting skill. You'll risk getting us all killed," Colin retorted with a glare.

"He's right," Kieran spoke in agreement.

Tristan and Leon merely exchanged glances before chuckling at each other. The other three were all confused at first, but when Tristan held his hands up in the air and uttered a "fair enough", they all tensed down.

"I get it, you don't want someone joining the group with no skills and making a fool of themselves," Tristan nodded, gradually walking towards the table and picking up the small handgun that sat on the glass. The others watched him pick up the gun and twirl it, wondering what he was planning to do. "But in this case, that person is not me." He casually dropped all of the bullets inside of the gun and turned the revolver around to make sure the bullets were enclosed inside. He flicked the safety switch on before aiming the gun towards the tin cans on the pedestal.

As soon as he fired one shot, one of the cans went flying off, the pyramid remaining intact. All of a sudden more shots were fired, and with each shot came each can flying off hit straight in the center. He did this until finally all the cans were knocked off.

To say Colin and the two were shocked was an understatement. No, they were completely blown away. Colin's eyes widened, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Kieran and Barret's mouth drop practically down to the floor. That was definitely something they were not expecting. Who knew the Daupine of France was so good with guns?

After he was done, he set the safety switch back on and set the gun back down on the table. "Well, do we have a deal Illea? Or shall we have Leon demonstrate for you as well?" Tristan casually waltzed back towards them. Colin could practically see the arrogance radiating off the French Prince as him and Leon smirked at one another.

"Alright, both of you are in." Kieran suddenly blurted out, before Colin even had a chance to respond.

"Kieran," Colin cursed, clenching his teeth in annoyance.

Kieran gave him an apologetic look with a shrug.

"Sorry man, but we kind of need them. They have as much skill as we do, I mean did you just see that right now?" Kieran pointed out, dumbfounded.

"Kieran's right. I mean, I still don't like them, but it would be really helpful if we added them to the team." Barret added in agreement, trying to justify Kieran's response.

Colin looked away to avoid their stares, feeling even more frustrated than before. He couldn't believe they were actually considering the fact to let them into their group, but deep inside his train of thoughts, he knew they had a valid point as well. "You don't know what you're doing, letting Tristan in our group would be like letting a rabid wolf out loose with the pit bulls. He hates the rebels, he'll risk getting us caught even more." He hissed.

Kieran and Barret exchanged glances with each other, realizing Colin had a small point as well.

Beside us, Tristan cleared his throat. "Still here, Illea." He sarcastically muttered. "I'm not some savage beast, you know. I won't go on a screaming rampage killing any rebel I see at first sight. And besides, I can assure you if you don't let me in your group it'll be a lot harder to hide your secret from your mother and the rest of your family." He smirked.

Colin merely gave out a sarcastic laugh in response to his small threat, before resorting back to the same serious expression he had on before. "Are you blackmailing me, you bastard?" He calmly questioned with a hint of bewilderment. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed angrily as he stared the other down.

Tristan seemed to be slightly taken aback by the way Colin insulted him, however he quickly went back to his composed self. "What if I am?" He glared. "What will you possibly do about it?"

Just as Colin was about to angrily retort back, Kieran quickly cut in the heated argument. "Alright, that's enough. If we want this group to work out, you two are going to have to get along. Actually scratch that, everyone of us will have to." He glanced over at Barret and Leon, who were glaring at each other as well.

"It's impossible to get along with him," Colin and Tristan both hissed out in unison.

"Well, your going to have to tolerate each other then." Kieran insisted.

Once the brief sound of another set of footsteps approached, everyone immediately stopped what they were originally doing to look over at the noise. The petty argument soon turned into silence as everyone coughed and looked away to act natural, either remaining standing or taking a seat at the table.

One of the palace guards appeared from the door and went over to Kieran. He glanced around, confused by the deafening silence but nevertheless handed over some files to Kieran before giving a slight bow to the two princes. "I apologize for the intrusion, your majesties. The head office guard wanted me to deliver these files to you, Kieran. It's concerning the southern rebels," The guard cleared his throat, nervously scratching the back of his head in discomfort.

Kieran took the files and curiously viewed them over. "Ah, thank you Eliah. You've been doing a good job so far with your work despite how short a time you've been a palace guard," He praised.

Eliah gave him a appreciative smile and slightly saluted him. "Thank you, sir. But I have a long way to go still if I want to be anywhere near as good as your rank."

Kieran gave him a small pat on the shoulder. "Believe me, you will soon enough."

"I'll catch you later then. I have to get back to my post," Eliah smiled and dipped his head with respect before making his way back out.

"I'll see you later," Kieran nodded in response as he took his leave.

The others continued to casually sit against the chairs of the table, waiting until Eliah had completely left the area. Once he did, they all leaned back against their chairs.

"Is he a new guard?" Colin curiously questioned. "I haven't seen him before."

"Yeah, he just started several weeks ago. He was nervous about it at first, but now he's getting the hang of things." Kieran explained.

"Well, what's in those reports about the rebels?" Tristan crossed his arms, glancing at the papers that Kieran was holding.

Kieran pulled the reports out of the envelope, carefully folding them and reading through what it said. As he continued to read more, he raised his eyebrow, intrigued by what he was reading to say the least. He averted his gaze from the paper to glance back at the others. "It says every palace guard ranked five and above has to increase their duties at post. There will be precautions to be made due to the increased sighting of southern rebels and rumors that they have been transporting armed weapons near the palace in order to interrupt this year's Selection."

"They're trying to attack the palace!?" Barret exclaimed in bewilderment.

Colin muttered a curse under his breath, before leaning his head back and sighing. "Great. Another problem."

"At least we know what our next mission's going to be," Kieran solemnly offered, his expression turning serious. "We can't let them get those weapons in."

"Sounds tempting," Leon glanced over at Tristan with a smirk, who quickly returned it.

"Oh really, France? What would be your plan of action then? I'm dying to hear it," Colin scoffed, his voice dripping with icy sarcasm.

"Easy, Illea." Tristan smugly responded. "The best way to take care of this sitatuion is fire and gasoline."

"Fire and gasoline?" Barret raised an eyebrow. "What exactly does that mean?"

"It means we're going to get ourselves killed before this Selection even starts," Colin sighed, resting his elbow against the table and brushing his fingers along the side of his head.

"At least we'll go down in flames," Kieran chuckled in amusement.

* * *

Eliah started walking back to his post inside of the palace, gradually reaching for his phone inside of his pocket and pulling it out. Once he had it in his hands, he briefly looked around the area to make sure nobody was looking. As soon as he saw no one in sight, he slowly made his way over to the back of the palace to stand behind a few grove of trees out in the garden.

He sighed and curled his lip in annoyance.

It's only been a few weeks as a guard and he was already fed up with it. Having to play bodyguard with those arrogant royals...

The only thing worth playing spy as a guard was at the end he could help eliminate the Royal family because of his mission.

As he pulled his phone up to look at the scene, the sleeve of his shirt went up and briefly showed a tattoo crest symbol of the southern rebels.

He pressed on the contacts icon and started scrolling down the list to call one of the employers that the rebels had hired to work along with him in this mission. They weren't here yet, but if things went according to plan, they would be arriving fairly soon.

He pressed on the contact number and hit dial.

* * *

**Mavis Jacqueline Sinclair**

I stood in line at the front of the Province of Ottaro Services Office to turn in my application for the Selection. To my dismay, the streets were already packed with lines of women ranging anywhere from Caste twos to Caste sevens. There were even some eights in the midst of the crowd, wearing oversized dirty sweatshirts and plastic bags over their shoulders. The only thing they could try making at least partially decent was their hair by brushing it back.

With me being a six, the only thing I could do was keep my unkept hair down for the meanwhile and to wear Chapstick so my lips wouldn't look so dry. Besides that, I only had some light makeup on. I had to make my picture look as decent as possible if I wanted to get in the Selection. At first, I only applied because I wanted to get away from my over controlling father who just always ordered me around.

I worked as a seamstress at the local clothing apparel store, but my secret job, I spent most of my nights working as a mercenary.

Not too many people in my province knew what that was, so I kept it a secret from everyone I knew, including my father.

Once my cellphone started ringing, I rolled my eyes and began searching through my small brown bag. I reached for my phone and pulled it out of the bag, before pressing the green icon and putting the phone beside my ear.

"Hello?" I sweetly replied, in case it was one of my customers from the clothing store.

"It's me," Eliah's voice was heard from the other line.

Once I heard it was him, my voice immediately changed from fake sweetness to annoyance. "Oh, ugh, what do you want?" I coldly questioned.

"Are you at the province office yet?" He merely responded.

"Yeah, I'm waiting in line as we speak. God, some of these girls look like clowns with all the makeup they're wearing. It's hilarious how hard some people try to get in this Selection," I muttered, which earned me a few glances my way, but I simply returned their stares with a fake smile.

Had to learn how to be nice if you wanted things to go your way.

"What happens if you don't get Selected?" Eliah scoffed.

"Well thanks Sherlock, but I'm guessing if I don't get picked then I'm out of the mission. Your going to have to assassinate the princes without me. I still better get half the money I was promised for trying though," I gritted my teeth in frustration.

I really needed this money the southern rebels promised me, so I was just keeping my fingers crossed that I was be Selected. I know that was asking for too much, but I wanted my millions, damn it.

"If you don't get here in time, I'm going to kill them both myself." Eliah grumbled. However, there was a noise heard from the other line so I couldn't tell if he was talking to someone or walking off somewhere. Nevertheless, having a conversation with him always had me pulling my hair in frustration.

"Eliah...Eliah, listen to me, you dumb son of a bitch..." I murmured, trying not to raise my voice so much but the other connection on the line was beginning to break up. I walked to the side of the line a bit so other people wouldn't hear me. "If you so much as jeopardize this mission and cost me my money, I swear to god I will wring you by your neck. We can't be rash in killing the princes, this has to be done right. I'm the mercenary here, I know the rules of the game."

There was another break in the line, before Eliah's voice came back loud and clear. "Oh what was that? I couldn't hear you?" He spoke, and I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic with me or not. I swear I could briefly hear him muttering "fuck you", but that could've just been my imagination.

"Just...don't do anything rash," I simplified my earlier statement, rolling my eyes.

He gave out a small chuckle from the other line. "I'm always careful, don't worry."

Just as I was about to respond back, a girl from Caste two rudely shoved past me, bumping her shoulder against mine. She glanced back at me and stared at my clothes with a raised eyebrow. "Move it, you were in my way, loser. But like you have a chance of entering with those clothes anyway," She icily replied, laughing right in my face.

It took everything in my power not to just punch her right in her face, but I knew I had to play it cool. If I got into a fight here, I would get kicked out by the officials.

I clenched my fists in anger, but I gave out a long sigh to put on the most friendliest face I could possibly muster. "I'm terribly sorry," I innocently apologized, however I had to bite my tongue from saying otherwise.

"Hmph," She gave me a smug grin and flipped her hair back, practically right in my face. I merely stared at her long shiny blonde hair, getting ideas in my head.

"Hey, what happened?" I heard Eliah ask.

Completely forgetting about the phone, I brought it back up against my ear. "Yeah, nothing. I'm going to have to call you back. I'm almost to the front."

"Don't get into too much trouble with those girls," He warned, half teasing me. He must have briefly heard my conversation with the girl.

"I can still play dirty without using fists," I reminded him, before hanging up the phone and placing it back inside my bag. Once I started fiddling inside my bag, I caught sight of my small switchblade. I stared at the blade, then back at the girl's blonde hair.

I gave a mischievous smirk.

It took around a half hour later to get to the front of the Provinces office. Once I got to the window, I quickly signed to confirm everything on my form was true before handing it in. As I was waiting behind the girl from two with her new lovely haircut I gave her in the back, she unknowingly went to the picture stand to take her picture.

I watched her arrogantly brush her hair forwards and smile bright for the camera.

The cameraman gave her a confused look and raised his hand to point towards the back of her head. She returned his confused look and immediately brought her hand up to touch the back of her head. Once she could feel the huge bald spot there, she began to scream in shock.

Several officials from the office came to calm her down so she would stop freaking out. When she looked over my way, I briefly showed her the long strands of her blonde hair I had cut off with a smile. I slowly dangled it to the side with a confident look on my face. She merely stared at it, and then back at me, completely incredulous. For a second I thought she was going to attack me, but she simply left the office sobbing and went running back to her house, I assume.

The officials simply shrugged it off and made a hand gesture at me to come forwards and take my picture. I happily smiled at them and sat on the chair as the photographer stood ready to take the picture. I brushed my hair down first, to make sure it was still somewhat tamed, before flashing the photographer a big cheerful grin as the flash to the camera went off.

Once the photo was taken, I slipped off the chair and let the other girl behind me take her picture.

Never did I feel more confident like I did in this moment.


End file.
